Down the Rabbit Hole

Donan enjoys tactile exhibits of a children's museum: climbable, interactive, and colourful. Mommy likes to wander aimlessly through labyrinthine aisles of department stores, scouting items she'd buy during sales events. The problem is simple: when we engage in one activity, the other person is completely bored.  On a slow Sunday, I had difficulty finding a venue that both of them would love to visit. And then it hit me like that flying spanner that punctured the sidewall of one of my tires many years ago: We didn't need to compromise. We're going to IKEA! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rochie Cuevas (@rochiecuevas)   IKEA as a children's museum For Donan, each showroom was an interactive exhibit: an invitation to tinker with the toys, such as the plushy Aftonsparv astronaut bear, open drawers and refrigerators, tap on keyboards, and experience a whole range of different textures. He went round and round on a PS Lömsk chair, cocc...

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)'s  Loyalty Day  is a celebration of volunteerism, honour, and commitment to country. Every October 10th, UPLB commemorates the mobilisation of Filipinos for a war that they ultimately did not fight. On this date in 1918, staff and students of the UP College of Agriculture (now known as UPLB) enlisted in the Philippine National Guard to help fight in  World War I .  The Philippines was a U.S. territory  at the time, and the enlisted personnel were supposed to sail to Europe and be under the command of General John Pershing. However, on the day they were mustered into federal service, the fighting ended (Armistice Day). They never left the Philippines, but their action spoke of their willingness to serve, forever etched into UPLB history. Years after moving to California, I found my link to the UPLB community through the active alumni network  in  Davis, CA . I received an invitation to the Loyalty Day c...

I have always been interested in learning about personal finance and how to make my money work for me. In fact, I have been listening to various podcasts on investing and financial management, such as:  The Money Guy Show We Study Billionaires Value Investing with Legends The interest stems from dinner discussions with my parents since childhood. Daddy would read an article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer or Manila Bulletin and discuss market trends with us as we ate dinner. Also, both Mommy and Daddy brought me, Anna, and Biboy to Divisoria every weekend for shopping and scouting suppliers for the family business. This was where I learned the fundamentals of economics from a business perspective: the law of supply and demand . Since moving to California, we have resumed these business discussions during dinner. Donan has been a passive participant in these discussions because he doesn't understand the concepts of interest rates and investment instruments just yet. However, ...

Since the baby and I are past halfway with our second trimester, I started reading up on books narrating the experiences of other mothers. One of the books on my reading list is "Bringing Up Bébé" by Pamela Druckerman. The author apparently claims, in a nutshell, that the French parents make child rearing look much easier than Americans. French kids sleep through the night early on as babies, are mostly not overweight as toddlers despite not being picky with food, and are boisterous when playing but parents do not helicopter over them.  Enough to pique any first-time mother's curiosity, right?  Instead of buying a copy of the book, I opted to borrow one from the county library. I find time to read it while running code and while waiting for my mom to get out of the office. It proves to be an interesting read. View this post on Instagram Reading Pamela Druckerman’s “Bringing Up Bébé” til January 21st (the book...

When Lola Bats was approaching her centennial year, her Christmas wish was to receive P100 cash gifts from each of her grandchildren. I didn't receive the memo so I ended up giving her a bigger amount when I got back to the Philippines from my Christmas trip to California (somehow, the cousins didn't tell me nor Kuya Jun-jun, so we ended up pitching in more).  Lola was so elated with her cash gifts that she kept telling us about it. Kuya Eldie, Richelle, and I asked her if she's willing to treat us to dinner in a restaurant. She said yes, so we (along with Mary Ann) went to Mandarin Palace to eat. On the way to the restaurant, Lola asked Richelle to hold her wallet for her.  In the restaurant, she started worrying about her wallet. She kept asking Nasaan ang pitaka ko? Perhaps, she was concerned that her money might go missing or she didn't have enough money to pay for all the food. We were all laughing because she asked to see her wallet every five minutes on...

Lola Bats lived into an era when digital photography and social media became the norm. Shoot a photo and view it a second later. But back in the day, it's either she had to wait for a long time for painting or a somewhat shorter time to get film developed. But in the iPad era, it all changed... and she never failed to be amazed by it. Biboy went to the Philippines in summer 2017 to visit Lola Bats. As with almost everyone who wields a smartphone, Biboy took a series of selfies with Lola Bats. And then he showed the photos to her. Lola's reaction, as always, was hilarious. Ako ga yan? Ay pagkabilis namang nailagay ang litrato na iyan. Akin na lang yan!  (swipe left, swipe left)  Ahh... di na talaga mapagkakaila na ako'y matanda na. Yes, she wanted to have the phone (which she thought was a picture frame) for herself so she could have a look at the photos whenever she wanted to.

Biboy reminded me of this story during dinner time... One time, Daddy, Biboy, Lola Bats, Anna, and I (not sure where Mommy was) attended the funeral of one of Lola's godchildren in Batangas.  After the Mass, we all trooped down to the Cuenca public cemetery to witness the burial. In this particular cemetery, most of the graves were above ground; many of the graves were even on top of each other. Because of the above-ground nature of the graves, the cemetery personnel had to make sure that the casket would fit into its designated grave. After the final prayers, the deceased was brought to its final resting place. But because the cemetery was already crowded, it was difficult to manoeuvre the casket around corners and finally into the grave. But that's just when the problem started. The cemetery staff were having difficulty putting the casket into the grave because the casket was too long! Perhaps, the staff did not consider the thickness of the cement used for the grave or ...

Lola Bats really enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren. She also loved asking about the work that we do. One time, Lola Bats asked me about how my graduation went and about my specialisation. Lola Bats: Rochie, paano ka naging doctor e wala ka namang clinic.  Wala ka ring pasyente. Rochie:  Hindi po ako medical doctor. Ako po ay specialista sa bigas. (Hala, baka mapagkamalang bigas ang pasyente ko) On a separate occasion, Lola Bats was asking Anna and me about Barbara ... Lola Bats: Anong trabaho ng asawa ni Biboy? Rochie: (I didn't know what the Filipino term for paralegal is) Si Barbara po, ang trabaho parang abogado. Lola Bats: Aba, mahusay pala ang napangasawa ni Biboy... Abogada!

Anna and I were at La Costa, eating dinner when ladies at another table asked her, "¿Habla español?". It's probably because we were talking about eating utensils; many of which have Spanish names. However, Anna doesn't speak Spanish so she blurted, "No. English."  This need to learn Spanish was further emphasised when we (and Joycelyn) ate at Taqueria El Farolito, a Mexican cuisine-based hole-in-the-wall in the Mission District of San Francisco . The cashier asked us for our orders. Joycelyn and I ordered a burrito and a quesadilla suiza. Anna felt pressured about what to order so she ended up ordering quesadilla para dos.  When the food came, she was shocked to find out that she ordered quesadilla good for two people (hence, para dos)! Photo and caption by Joycelyn (posted on Instagram) Well, here's another one who will have to learn a third language ...

We were watching the Dick Clark New Year's Eve special  when Ate Gigi realised that she had tikoy  (nian gao), a cake made from glutinous rice. She dipped it in egg and fried it until crispy on the outside. As she started serving the fried tikoy around midnight, I got confused... should I say "Happy New Year" or "Kung Hei Fat Choi"? After all, we typically eat tikoy during the Chinese New Year.

There are pieces of art that celebrate the beauty of the human body. There's David and Venus de Milo representing sculpture, for instance; or the Creation of Adam, representing paintings.  And then there are those art pieces that show us the body as it is, with all its flabs and its excretions.  It is far from perfect but is nevertheless a sight to behold. That's what Danilo Dalena was showing in an exhibition of his works at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines . I popped in on its last day of showing; which is why there was a lot of visitors and there was a party going on right outside the gallery.  Some of the works gave me a glimpse into what the Manila  Jai Alai building looked like inside back in the day. It's an architectural gem in Manila, hailing from the Art Deco period. However, Manila is evolving and is more than willing to let go of the past (along with its architectural richness) in favour of a modern but less culturally and artfully...

I've been to the Ayala Museum 's diorama exhibit several times already and I learn something new each time. In my last two visits though, my eyes were led to possible "Easter eggs" in the dioramas. Perhaps the craftsmen from Paete, Laguna injected their sense of humour into the tableaus.  In the diorama below, for instance, the scene was all about the trade between the Chinese merchants and the Filipino rulers. The Chinese were trading ceramics and other goods from the mainland for turtle shells, buffalo horns, etc. This trade between the Chinese and the Filipinos explain the strong business relationships that exist even today; and how the Philippines became rich in archeological sites (with all those pottery shards). And this was in pre-Hispanic Philippines. However, what I found funny with this diorama was the man at the back, seemingly carrying things that were either sold to or sold by this man. Why? Because while the rest of the male characters were e...

I attended two weddings in October. The first one was of my bestfriend since grade school, Noan Nepumoceno (née Pagdanganan). The second one was of one of my friends from high school, Ross Cleofe. Noan is a medical doctor by profession. Ross is a registered nurse. While Noan is based in the Philippines, Ross is working in the UK.  Anyway, while Noan and the entourage were still at the hotel (the groomsmen finished their photo opp and the bridesmaids were just waiting for instructions), my three friends from grade school, Heiko, Brian, and Dai Rong, guests to Noan's wedding, were in a parking lot across the church, taking this photo. I was in the entourage so I wasn't anywhere near the church when this photo happened. In Ross' wedding, I wasn't in the entourage. I was a guest. So while the bride, the groom, and the entourage were taking group shots post-wedding, I went to the church parking lot with two friends from high school, Hanna and Gladys. While waiti...

I was invited by students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines' (PUP) BSc Food Technology seminar course as a resource person. Because I arrived early at the Hasmin Hostel, the venue of the seminar, I thought it would be a good time to eat lunch. The students who welcomed me brought me to this restaurant, run by Hotel and Restaurant Management students, called #Hugot Cafe. How mainstream and trendy, I thought. The students probably were banking on the popularity  of the plethora of films addressing the pain and the feeling of hopelessness caused by break-ups and unrequited love. Very interesting. Once seated at my table, I was pleasantly surprised by the options in the menu. I opted to try PORksteakEBER (pork chop stewed in soy sauce and calamansi, paired with rice and buttered vegetables) as my main dish and chocOPTION LANG (brownie ala mode with ube ice cream instead of vanilla) as my dessert. I also got Third Party (iced tea... Took some time to get the pla...

Black Saturday. Typically, I'd be in Sta Cruz, spending time with family in preparation for Easter Sunday (so basically, that means just having dinner with them and sleeping over my aunt's house). This year, however, Val invited me to join him, Nikos, Coast, and Zia to Art in Island. It's a museum in Cubao, Quezon City that features three-dimensional artworks in which people can have their pictures taken with. I just had to join them; it sounded like fun when the idea was pitched at me!  So here are some of my favourite photos from our visit to this museum. And yes, no shoes allowed. Hence, I was barefoot the whole time. Let me out of here!! I'm the biggest, for once! The sad angel. Someone's gatecrashed the Nativity scene... I'm not sure if he's captured the ball from the characters of the Creation of Man The trip down the rabbit hole led to the staircase to heaven and the path to a floating mansion. I can do this in real l...

One of the reasons I have for blogging is to keep a diary for myself, online, so I'd be able to laugh at myself and reflect on my adventures years after... Without having to worry about entering passcodes and passwords before I could read my posts. Paper-based diaries are getting bulky, after all. (I do have a password for composing and posting ... But the content is publicly accessible. In case my memory fails me in the future, knock on wood. After all, I don't want to end up like Lexi Smart in "Remember Me?" By Sophie Kinsella.) Because that's the thing. In an effort to lock things in and to prevent others from tweaking (unauthorised) and stealing online personas (i.e., keep information private but online), people are using passwords and number combinations. And they're difficult to remember if there are so many of them... Different ones per account, per device, per item. And we're not supposed to write them anywhere for the sake of securi...

Back in college, I swore that I would watch Ambeth Ocampo (whatever it takes) when he lectures about Jose Rizal and his infamous overcoat . The chance for me to see his lecture live didn't happen when I was still teaching at the Ateneo de Manila University . It, however, came as August was ending. Man, who always comes along when I go on a history adventure, was with me. And along for the ride was Bert, an economics student doing his thesis in IRRI.  Ambeth Ocampo basically led us through the more important details of his book "Rizal Without the Overcoat". This is my favourite textbook among those of my social sciences courses in college. And Ambeth's lecture style makes history come alive, as he entitled his lecture series. It was a major laugh trip to hear about the escapades of Jose Rizal, the Philippines' national hero, as a student in Europe... in the days long before the internet, social media, and computers. Ambeth showed the human side of a man who wo...

Talk about embarrassing! I was watching an episode of Extras , entitled "Samuel L. Jackson" one evening. That episode dealt with Andy's (Ricky Gervais) stint as an extra in a film being shot with Samuel L. Jackson. It also featured how Maggie (Ashley Jensen) mishandled communications with a mixed-race actor about race, leading to bad and comical consequences. The way she put herself in that situation was certainly embarrassing but what made me shake my head in disbelief was what came next: She talked with Jackson the following day, mistaking him for Laurence Fishburne (who definitely  is NOT Samuel L. Jackson!).  Disbelief, yes, because mistaking actors for other actors was one thing I did too! If not recognising Craig David when I was right beside him in Glorietta 5 or not recognising Manny Pacquiao when I saw him surrounded by his bodyguards in Ortigas weren't embarrassing enough... A few years ago, I was at Al Gore 's Inconvenient Truth lecture at...

Matty: Let's take the flight together. Then we can watch Fawlty Towers on iPad in the air. Rochie: We are on the same flight!! Fawlty Towers flight!! M: My iPad is completely Rochie-fied... Loaded with Fawlty Towers, Chef!, The Office, etc. R: Cool!! We have lots to watch for in-flight entertainment. :D --- And so my flight to Bangkok, Thailand promised to be something I could look forward to after a very long 72-hour day. The weather was good; not too hot and not rainy either. The traffic was fast-moving most of the way from my house to the airport. I got to the airport first; so while waiting for Matty, I was people watching... well, counting how many IRRI staff were taking the same flight that we were taking this afternoon. During check-in, I forgot to request for us to sit together (something I've never bothered about before because I normally fly alone). Good thing he had an aisle seat a few rows up. It's easier to trade aisle seats than middle seats (one...

Ambeth Ocampo, one of my favorite Philippine history authors, held a lecture on the Luna brothers one Saturday afternoon and I attended it. ( Yes, I'm on a Philippine history streak these past few weeks, including the Ilocos adventure that Ate Bing and I took on. )  I like Ocampo's style of talking about history because it's not about the dates or the labels attached to people. He has a knack of making (super)heroes human again to the audiences' eyes. For instance, I can never remember the stats about Jose Rizal's life abroad but I do recall that he used to pretend that had already eaten just to not lose face in front of his landlords.  In the case of the Luna brothers, I only recall that both had fiery tempers and that Juan, in particular, became famous due to his paintings. Ocampo's journey to learn more about the artist let us peek into the lifestyle of a clique of rich Filipino students abroad. The historian showed the audience where Juan used to li...